Mass. First Lady Leads MLK Celebration

Sasha Dubois, left, and Diane Patrick share a laugh during the MLK celebration.

Massachusetts’s First Lady Diane Patrick, JD, stood before the BWH community Feb. 12 and asked whether, as a society, we have reached the promised land that Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. spoke of nearly 40 years ago.

“We must recognize and celebrate the many freedoms and opportunities that now exist for people of color. To vote. To get a first rate education. To rise to the top ranks of corporations. To live, eat and pray where we wish,” Patrick told the audience who gathered at the Bornstein Amphitheater. “But racism, in its more subtle forms, in word and deed, is still very much with us. And those words and deeds keep telling us that, no, we are not there yet.”

“Are We There Yet?” was the title of her keynote speech during BWH’s celebration of the legacy and life of Martin Luther King Jr. During her speech, Patrick reflected on the four decades since King’s last speech and her life growing up in Brooklyn, New York, as an attorney and humanitarian. She also encouraged the audience to examine the impact of their words.

“Consider how best to use your words and actions for good, and not for ill,” she said. “I want to live in the world that Dr. King dreamed of. I want to live where people are judged by the content of their character – and before I die, I want to be able to answer the ‘Are we there yet?’ question with ‘Yes, we are.’”

BWH President Betsy Nabel, MD, also spoke during the event. “Dr. King and his unwavering commitment to social justice remains an inspiration to all of us here at Brigham and Women’s Hospital,” she said.